Denise Ezekiel, the Massachusetts State Police payroll director who was suspended amid theft allegations, applied for pension benefits a few days before a criminal complaint against her was filed.

Records reviewed by MassLive show less than a week before the criminal complaint was filed in Framingham District Court, Ezekiel applied to receive the benefits from the State Retirement Board.

The criminal complaint was filed March 6, according to court records. On March 2, Ezekiel applied to the State Retirement Board to end her employment with the state, effective from the beginning of March.

Ezekiel began her state employment with the Department of Revenue in 1987 before taking her job with the State Police in 2013, according to her application.

The form asks retirement applicants whether they have ever been convicted of "an offense involving the funds or property of your place of employment" or an offense involving "your position while in state service."

Ezekiel checked "no" to both questions .

Her application is still pending and "will be for some time," Office of the Treasurer and Receiver General Assistant Communications Director Dan Truong wrote in an email.

The existence of Ezekiel's retirement application was first reported by the Boston Globe.

Authorities accuse Ezekiel, a 49-year-old Holbrook resident, of filing 29 fraudulent reimbursements over 15 months and with it stealing almost $24,0000 from the Massachusetts State Police.

Records show Ezekiel was suspended on Nov. 1, 2017, the day Massachusetts State Police Major John Lannon was assigned to investigate her on alleged misuse of payroll funds.

Ezekiel will be arraigned Monday on a charge of larceny over $250. She remains on unpaid leave.

The criminal complaint filed by Lannon claims Ezekiel filed unauthorized reimbursements for travel or training. The reimbursements ranged in value between $500 and $950 and lasted for 15 months.

There are 29 instances of these reimbursements and the money went into Ezekiel's personal bank account, records show. Ezekiel was the final auditor of travel and training reimbursement for the department.

Ezekiel was sued three times by three different credit card companies in 2014 and 2015 saying she owed roughly $23,000 in credit card debts. The lawsuits were filed in Quincy District Court.

State payroll records show Ezekiel had an annual salary of $95,031 in 2017.

The financial discrepancies were discovered and reported to the Massachusetts State Police's Director of Finance and its Chief Administrative Officer, records show.

Lannon, according to court records, learned the reimbursement money was deposited in Ezekiel's personal bank account.

"Further search of state police payroll reimbursement records was conducted and no documentation existed to support these specific reimbursements payments to Ms. Ezekiel," Lannon wrote.

The state police are in turmoil over the past several months after several troopers have either been suspended or retired over receiving payment for no-show overtime shifts on the Massachusetts Turnpike. Payroll information for Troop F, which is funded by MassPort, had been kept secret for years as well.

Two troopers have also filed federal lawsuits after they say Massachusetts State Police command officers, including former Col. Richard McKeon, forced them to redact and destroy reports involving the arrest of Alli Bibaud, the daughter of a Worcester County judge.